The Star Wars: The Old Republic Website has an update on changes for the crew skill system in the upcoming version 1.2 patch for the Star Wars MMORPG. The website also has word that they are conducting another free weekend for the game beginning tomorrow, saying this will only be open to those who have not participated in a previous free event for the game. Here's word:

Like with the first Weekend Pass Free Trial, players will be able to experience the opening chapter of each of the eight character classes in the game. You will have the opportunity to explore each class’s Origin World, and may even have the chance to visit their faction’s Capital World. In addition, Weekend Pass Free Trial players will have the chance to face off against other players in PvP Warzones, or join with their friends to play through an early faction-specific Flashpoint.

ColoradoHoudini wrote on Mar 21, 2012, 22:42:I've said this before, and I'll try to give the abbreviated version again.

1. Hated the game originally (from the videos I watched)2. Got turned to liking the games concepts/ideas by more info and the beta..and prior WoW guildies converting me3. Loved the game at first4. Thought that with all the money they threw at the title, it was really lacking some key features (a better-working Market for starters)5. Got really sick of the constant audio quests (I know you can skip em)6. Same back and forth quest BS7. The PvP land is useless and boring8. Love the assistants model.. they farm for me!9. Just feels like a SP game with a very good chat interface10. I have zero desire to see end-game content.. and I have/had every opportunity to do so.. my guild is a raiding guild, and very good at that..but SW gave me NO desire to see end game content--and i live for end game stuff!!

With the exception of 5, your experience is very close to my own. I think I quit around level 30, after the constant experience of:

1. Fly to new planet2. Clear out 4 zones.3. Fly back to fleet, curse auction house, stand around with nothing else to do.4. Go back to step 1.

After the 3rd of 4th planet, it was beyond repetitive, and becomes boring.

I also miss the free flowing of zones in WOW, compared to the isolation in SW. Granted, they are different planets, but they feel too disconnected.

And the AH. Dear fucking god. Of all the things they attempted to copy from WOW, why couldn't they copy that one? It became way too much of a chore, since you can't just shift-click and item and see similar ones. You have to fill out 2-3 fields, do a search, then refine you search, look at what other people are listing the same/similar item for, and THEN you can finally list it.

And then there's the space missions. I lasted through one of those. Boring as fuck. Would it have been so difficult to have the ship move freely, but in a confined space, like starfox boss fights? That couldn't have been hard to do. They you might have had the slightest feeling of a star wars space battle.

I really wanted to like the game, and I enjoyed my beta time, and about the first month. But it became waaaaaay too repetitive after that.

Yeah guys..Honestly, a weekend is too short, and at first the game is fun. It's new, science fiction, it's Star Wars.. and then..bleh.I leveled to 50 at a decent pace, and even with that pace, I was bored by the time I hit 35.

I've said this before, and I'll try to give the abbreviated version again.

1. Hated the game originally (from the videos I watched)2. Got turned to liking the games concepts/ideas by more info and the beta..and prior WoW guildies converting me3. Loved the game at first4. Thought that with all the money they threw at the title, it was really lacking some key features (a better-working Market for starters)5. Got really sick of the constant audio quests (I know you can skip em)6. Same back and forth quest BS7. The PvP land is useless and boring8. Love the assistants model.. they farm for me!9. Just feels like a SP game with a very good chat interface10. I have zero desire to see end-game content.. and I have/had every opportunity to do so.. my guild is a raiding guild, and very good at that..but SW gave me NO desire to see end game content--and i live for end game stuff!!

I think once they have a dozen warzones or play, instead of 3..., I'll be interested in giving it another shot. Crazy to think they have very decent pvp but no levels to play it on.

The legacy system apparently will allow you to jump to the end for a mirror class character. So if you played to lvl 50 Sith you can get a lvl 50 Jedi? That sounds like fun.

The republic side is kind of lame, I haven't found much to like about it so it's not surprising that the majority of players only have empire characters. But pvp is built on republic vs empire so that ends up causing huge problems since there is no cross servers support currently.

I got a 7 day free trial. It's a decentish game, but I was surprised by how poor the graphics are. Age of Conan is 4 years old now, and it had much better graphics at release than this has.

Gameplay is ok, but nothing spectacular yet - of course, I'm still in the newbie area, so can't comment on the world beyond. Right now, it's not a game I'd both pay for AND subscribe to. One or the other, possibly, but not both.

Boardroom Meeting:<Boss> "wtf, why we getting no sales/subscriptions?!"<Employees> "i dunno; the game is awesome!; they just don't know it. they need to try it or demo it."<Boss> "ok, let's give everyone free month."<Employees> "ok. but i recommend only a few days, because thats the best part in the game." <Boss> "ok. we'll do a free weekend then. do it!"<Employees> "ok."

Sure KotOR 3 would have been great, however when trying to tell 8 different stories, they are merely good not great. Thing is there's not nothing really that great atm. I'm just enjoying TOR as a good game, till something better comes along or I decide to play Skyrim again with a new set of mods.

My friend tells me how much he's enjoying playing ToR as a singleplayer game, insisting it feels like a sequel to KotoR, a game that I enjoyed immensely. He almost had me convinced to at least try it with the free pass that he had, even despite my intense hatred of all things MMO. I got over it - with the monthly fee, there's just no way, but it made me wish EAware could close off the massively multiplayer side and let people play solo without a subscription. I'd pay 60 bucks for that I think.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” - Mahatma Gandhi

WarpCrow wrote on Mar 21, 2012, 12:14:Just long enough to see most of what is positive about the game, but not long enough to experience most of the negatives. I wish this game had lived up to its hype and potential.

Isn't this precisely the nature of what a game demo is?

Or a movie trailer... If I had a nickel for every trailer I enjoyed, but the movie contained 'no' new information... I likely would have spent it on candy... : )

Dear TOR team, I would love to play your game, but I don't play games with monthly fees. I played Guild Wars and the expansions, but I never played WoW. Make it F2P, and I will pay full price for the client. If you still want to go the WoW way, good luck with that.

Name a single event in history where hatred, fear, and greed helped to solve a crisis.